


Hugging Is Good

by syriala



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: First Kiss, Getting Together, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Stiles Stilinski is a Good Friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-06-23 22:47:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15616701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syriala/pseuds/syriala
Summary: “Derek, what are you doing?” he asked again, voice more guarded now, hands just hovering above Derek’s waist and Derek sighed, feeling how Peter shivered at that.“I’m trying to tell you that I care about you, and that I love you, without actually using my words,” he quickly rushed out and his heart sank when Peter jerked back at that.





	Hugging Is Good

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lostwithoutmyanchor (mysourwolf)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysourwolf/gifts).



Derek was still shaken up. It had been hours after their run in with Kate, and the pack had made sure to shield him from her at all times, so Derek shouldn’t even feel like this. He didn’t have any direct contact with her, and he still felt like he needed to claw a layer of skin off, just to feel clean again.

The pack had mostly left already, everyone ready to fall into their own beds, but Stiles was still lingering around and when Derek snapped at him to get the fuck out already, Stiles just stepped up to him.

He eyed him for a few seconds, Derek warily staring back, before Stiles squared his shoulders.

“Do not rip my throat out for this,” he said, almost teasingly, before he stepped in and pulled Derek into a hug.

Derek went stiff against him; he couldn’t remember the last time someone touched him in kindness and he certainly hadn’t expected it from Stiles of all people, though the boy did live to surprise him.

Derek stayed stiff, undecisive what he wanted to do. If he would give in, Stiles would eventually pull away and leave Derek alone again, but if he stayed like this it was more than likely that Stiles would keep this up until Derek finally gave in and hugged back.

Derek thought back to the last hug he had gotten, long before the fire. Peter had come home from an assignment and Derek had missed him dearly when he was gone. Peter had obviously felt the same, because as soon as his eyes fell on Derek he had swept him up in a hug, properly scenting him and making sure Derek would smell like him for days.

The memory almost brought tears to Derek’s eyes and he buried his face in Stiles’ neck, finally giving in to the hug as well. Derek had expected Stiles to pull away rather quickly after he gave in, but Stiles stayed where he was, keeping his arms around Derek and hugging the shit out of him.

Derek couldn’t say that he minded so much.

It was Derek who pulled back eventually, and Stiles easily let him. Derek suspected he would have kept hugging until he felt like Derek had enough and Derek liked him just a little bit more for it.

“See, big guy? Hugging is good. I know you’re not a fan of using your words,” here Derek glared at him and Stiles looked pointedly at him like he wanted to say, ‘point in case’, “but with a hug you can say ‘I care about you’ and ‘I love you’ without actually using your words. You should try it sometimes.”

“Get out,” Derek gruffly said in response to that, and Stiles laughed out loud.

“Or you can use your mean words and tell me how it really is,” Stiles said but he sounded fond and not at all offended.

He was almost at the door, leaving quickly now that he had apparently done what he stayed for, when Derek called after him.

“Thank you, Stiles.”

“Everyday, big guy,” he called back before he slammed the door behind him.

Derek thought he might deserve that for telling him to get out.

~*~*~

Derek was still thinking about Stiles’ words when Peter entered the loft hours later. He had made sure that Kate didn’t escape this time and a part of Derek wanted to know if he tore her apart for good this time, or if he should expect her to pop up at any moment but he swallowed the words down.

He and his uncle didn’t really talk anymore, neither of them ever finding the right words. Derek still too angry at himself and Peter deflecting everything with sarcasm and painful barbs, so they tried to not actually say anything to each other at all, so they wouldn’t hurt the other even more.

But the silence was weighing on Derek; he wanted his uncle, his best friend, his confident back, and, if he was honest with himself, he wanted more too. Had always wanted more, but he thought that maybe he had lost that chance for good when Kate had burned them all with his help.

And on the dark days Derek even believed that.

But then there where days like these, where Peter got all aggressively protective of Derek, promising to tear everyone who hurt him apart and Derek thought maybe not everything was lost between them. He could at least hope.

And maybe he could do more than that, too, even without using his words.

So when Peter walked past him, clearly intending to vanish into his room without a word to Derek, Derek stopped him with a hand to his arm. Peter turned to look at him, one eyebrow quizzically raised, and Derek hesitated just a second before he finally pulled Peter into a tight hug.

Peter was stiff against Derek, probably too surprised to be anything else, but he didn’t immediately lash out and that more than anything else gave Derek hope.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Peter asked, sounding surprised too and Derek hid his smile in Peter’s neck.

It had been a long time since he managed to surprise Peter.

“Shut up,” he grumbled, nuzzling Peter’s neck in the process, but Peter wasn’t relaxing against him.

“Derek, what are you doing?” he asked again, voice more guarded now, hands just hovering above Derek’s waist and Derek sighed, feeling how Peter shivered at that.

“I’m trying to tell you that I care about you, and that I love you, without actually using my words,” he quickly rushed out and his heart sank when Peter jerked back at that.

“What?” he asked, searching Derek’s face for something. “Is this because of Kate?”

“Why the fuck would this be about Kate?” Derek wanted to know, suddenly angry but mostly hurt because Peter had rejected his hug and apparently everything else too.

“I dealt with her, okay? She won’t come back ever again, there are too many pieces for her to be put together again, but this doesn’t mean you owe me anything,” Peter told him, keeping some distance between them.

“I’m not doing this because I think I owe you for that,” Derek pressed out, desperately wishing he had just kept his mouth shut, wouldn’t have let Stiles and his stupid idea get into his head.

“Then why would you say that?” Peter wanted to know and now it was him who seemed hurt.

“Because I miss you,” Derek desperately said. He just wanted Peter back, wanted to make him understand. “I miss you, every day, even though you’re here, because you’re not, not really, and I miss how we were before, I miss _what_ we were, or could have been,” he said and then trailed off, because what else was there to say.

They were both very well aware that Derek had fucked them over when he had fallen for Kate and betrayed them all, and Derek scoffed. How could he ever think that Peter would want anything to do with him after _everything_ that had happened. That he had done.

“I’m sorry,” Derek whispered, taking a step back, and keeping his eyes cast down and away from Peter. He wished he could take the words back, too.

He didn’t know how they would ever get back to their silent coexistence after this and he dreaded the other possibility. He dreaded Peter leaving him completely.

“Derek,” Peter softly said and stepped closer, raising his head with a finger under his chin.

Peter’s face was smoothed out, softer than Derek had seen in ages and his heart clenched at that. But before he could ask what Peter was doing, he was reeled into a bone crushing hug, Peter clinging to him with the same desperation as Derek had earlier.

“What are you doing?” Derek whispered, and he could feel how he was already starting to shake, fine tremors spreading out into every limb.

“Telling you I care about you and I love you without using my words,” Peter whispered into Derek’s hair and at that Derek fell completely into the hug, trusting Peter to catch his weight.

“We should be better with our words,” Derek mumbled eventually, and Peter chuckled.

“I don’t know. This is working out very well so far,” he gave back, and then pulled back slightly, just enough that he was able to look Derek in the eye.

“Be sure about this,” Peter muttered, stroking his thumb over Derek’s cheek and Derek leaned into the touch, enjoying the warmth on his skin.

“I’ve never been surer,” Derek answered, preening when he saw the smile break out on Peter’s face.

It hadn’t even occurred to him that Peter hadn’t smiled all that much since he came back from the dead, but now the absence of all the smiles was glaringly obvious. Derek vowed to put as much smiles on his face as he could.

“You’re thinking sappy thoughts, I can tell,” Peter whispered against his lips and Derek felt himself smile in response before he pressed closer, bringing their lips together in a real kiss, and not just the brushing tease Peter kept taunting him with.

Peter responded eagerly, pressing back and parting Derek’s lips with his tongue, making Derek moan. When they finally parted, they were both breathing heavily but they stayed close, foreheads leaning against each other. It settled something in Derek that Peter was just as unwilling to pull away as Derek himself was.

He was pretty sure they wouldn’t immediately get better with using their words, but he was certain they could make up their own language for this.


End file.
